What's better than...?

[Guest guest]

This speech was delivered during the commencement exercises of the University of

Philippines graduating class of 2003 by Mr. Butch Jimenez, the youngest

ommencement speaker in the university's history. He once dreamed of doing so,

and it came true!!! :-) Students wished they had a pencil or paper to jot down

notes during the speech; some even wished they had a tape recorder. Some members

of the faculty found his speech practical, refreshing, and funny!

Butch Jimenez, head of PLDT's media and strategic communications department,

delivered this speech at the UP Diliman Class 2003 commencement exercises.

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What's better than...?

By Butch Jimenez

Better than being negative

As college students, you're just about to set sail into the real world. As you

prepare for the battleground of life, you'll hear many speeches, read tons of

books and get miles of advice telling you to work hard, dream big, go out and do

something for yourself, and have a vision.

Not bad advice, really. In fact, following these nuggets of truth may just bring

you to the top. But as I've lived my life over the years , I have come to

realize that it is great to dream big, have a vision, make a name, and work

hard. But guess what: There's something better than that.

So my message today simply asks the question, What's better than...?

Let's start off with something really simple. What's better than a long speech?

No doubt, a short one. So, you guys are in luck because I do intend to keep this

short.

Now, let me take you through a very simple math exam. I'll rattle off a couple

of equations, and you tell me what you observe about them. Be mindful of the

instructions. You are to tell me what you observe about the equations.

Here goes: 3+4=7, 9+2=11, 8+4=13, and 6+6=12. Tell me, what do you observe?

Every time I conduct this test, more than 90 percent of the participants

immediately say, 8+4 is NOT 13, it's 12!

That's true and they are correct. But they could have also observed that the

three other equations were right. That 3+4 is 7, that 9+2 is 11, and that 6+6 is

12.

What's my point? Many people immediately focus on the negative instead of the

positive. Most of us focus on what's wrong with other people more than what's

right about them. Examine those four equations. Three were right and only one

was wrong. But what is the knee-jerk observation? The wrong equation.

If 10 people you didn't know were to walk through that door, most of you would

describe those people by what's negative about them. He's fat. He's balding. Oh,

the short one. Oh, the skinny girl. Ahhh, 'yung pango. Etc.

Get the point? It's always the negative we focus on and not the positive. You'll

definitely experience this in the corporate world. You do a hundred good things

and one mistake-guess what? Chances are, your attention will be called on that

one mistake.

So what's better than focusing on the negative? Believe me, its focusing on the

positive. And if this world could learn to focus on the positive more than the

negative, it would be a much nicer place to live in.

Better than working hard

We have always been told to work hard. Our parents say that, our teachers say

that, and our principal says that. But there's something better than merely

working hard. It's working SMART.

It's taking time to understand the situation, and coming out with an effective

and efficient solution to get more done with less time and effort. As the

Japanese say, " There's always a better way. "

One of the most memorable case studies I came across with as I studied Japanese

management at Sophia University in Tokyo was the case of the empty soap box,

which happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics companies. The company

received a complaint that a consumer had bought a box of soap that was empty. It

immediately isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the

packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soap box

went through the assembly line empty. Management tasked its engineers to solve

the problem. Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine

with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes

that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they

worked hard and they worked fast.

But a rank-and-file employee that was posed the same problem came out with

another solution. He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at

the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan,

it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.

Clearly, the engineers worked hard, but the rank-and-file employee worked smart.

So what's better than merely working hard? It's working smart. Having said that,

it is still important to work hard. If you could combine both working hard and

working smart, you would possess a major factor toward success.

Better than dreaming big

I will bet my next month's salary that many have encouraged you to dream big.

Maybe even to reach for the stars and aim high. I sure heard that about a

million times right before I graduated from this university. So I did. I did

dream big. I did aim high. I did reach for the stars. No doubt, it works. In

fact, the saying is true: " If you aim for nothing, that's exactly what you'll

hit: nothing. "

But there's something better than dreaming big. Believe me, I got shocked

myself. And I learned it from the biggest dreamer of all time, Walt Disney.

When it comes to dreaming big, Walt is the man. No bigger dreams were fulfilled

than his. Every leadership book describes him as the ultimate dreamer. In fact,

the principle of dreaming and achieving is the core message of the Disney hit

song, " When You Wish Upon a Star " .

" When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are; anything your heart

desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dream, no request is too

extreme. When you wish upon a star, as dreamers do, " as Jiminy Cricket sang.

But is that what he preached in the Disney company? Dream? Imagineering Well,

not exactly. Kinda, but not quite. The problem with dreaming is if that's all

you do, you'll really get nowhere. In fact, you may just fall asleep and never

wake up.

The secret to Disney's success is not just dreaming, it's IMAGINEERING. You

won't find this word in a dictionary. It's purely a Disney word. Those who

engage in imagineering are called imagineers. The word combines the words

" imagination " and " engineering. "

In the book " Imagineers, " Disney's CEO, Michael Eisner, claims that " imagineers

turn impossible dreams into real magic. "

Walt Disney explained there is really no secret to their approach. They just

keep moving forward-opening new doors and doing new things, because they are

curious. And it is this curiosity that leads them down new paths. They always

dream, explore and experiment. In short, imagineering is the blending of

creative imagination and technical know-how.

Eisner expounds on this thought by saying that " Not only are imagineers curious,

they are courageous, outrageous, and their creativity is contagious. "

The big difference with imagineers is that they dream and then they DO! So don't

just be a dreamer, be an imagineer.

What's better than vision

You must have all been given a lecture at one time or another about the

importance of having a vision. Even leadership expert John Maxwell says that an

indispensable quality of a leader is to have a vision. The Bible also makes it

very clear that " Without vision, people perish. " So no doubt about it, having a

vision is important to success.

But surprise! There's something more potent than a vision. It's a CAUSE.

If all you're doing is trying to reach your vision and you're pitted against

someone fighting for a cause, chances are you'll lose. The Vietnam War is a

classic example. Literally with sticks and stones, the Viet Cong beat the

heavily armed US Army to surrender, primarily because the US had a vision to win

the war, but the Vietnamese were fighting for a cause.

In the realm of business, many leaders have visions of making their company

No.1, or grabbing market share, or forever increasing profits. Nothing really

wrong with that vision, but take the example of Sony founder Akio Morita. He did

not just have a vision to build the biggest electronics company in the world. In

his biography, " Made in Japan, " he reveals that the real reason he set up Sony

was to help rebuild his country, which had just been battered by war. He had a

cause he was fighting for. His vision to be an electronics giant was secondary.

What's the difference between a vision and a cause? Here's what sets them

apart... No one is willing to die for a vision. People will die for a cause. You

possess a vision. A cause possesses you. A vision lies in your hands. A cause

lies in your heart. A vision involves sacrifice. A cause involves the ultimate

sacrifice.

Just a word of caution. You must have the right vision, and you must be fighting

for the right cause. In the end, right will always win out. It may take time,

and it may take long. But if you have the right vision and are fighting for the

right cause, you will prevail. If not, no matter how sincere you are, if you are

not fighting for what is right, you will ultimately fail.

The Bible, which says, " To whom much is given, much is required. "

A final review:

* What's better than focusing on the negative? Focus on the positive.

* What's better than working hard? It's working smart.

* What's better than dreaming? Imagineering.

* What's better than doing something for yourself? Doing something for your

country.

* What's better than a vision? A cause.

* What's better than a long speech? Definitely, a short one.

" Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends. "

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